The state’s ongoing effort to save 233 miles of railroad track in northern Maine from abandonment received a $10.5 million boost Friday from the federal government.
The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded the state DOT the funds as part of its Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery program, according to a press release from Gov. John Baldacci’s office. Maine officials are currently in talks with Montreal Maine & Atlantic Railway to buy the track, which the rail company earlier this year said it plans to abandon. DOT Commissioner David Cole told The Associated Press that negotiations with MM&A are “going well” and that a deal could be reached soon. State voters in June approved a $7 million bond to help fund the purchase.
The $10.5 million will fund repairs and maintenance on the tracks that run through Aroostook and Penobscot counties, according to the release.
For more on the issue, read “MM&A’s rail dilemma.”
Go to the article from The AP >>
